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Good ol' Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi.

Finally got a response an actual doc phoned and miraculously a chap appeared in an hour to take blood after i was made officially "house bound" (which strangely brought tears to my eyes ) Saying that i now notice you not only need their app to get an appointment you also now need an authenticator app to use it . I never had much luck in the past but having just installed a NAS (interesting thing different to what i thought was just hardrives in a box for storage) you installed the makers authenticator app which seems to work faultlessly .No idea how they work i am not that interested so much so i havnt even removed one of those usb key things for the same purpose i bought last year out of its wrapper. Strange noises all night in bedroom (i wish) so its now installed in a cupboard in the front room ,thing was moving its heads all night doing whatever it was doing As for the online stuff i declined making my records going on line (theres even a note in my records (viewing online lol) to date there seems to be no problem seeing my notes in hospitals or surgeries (even the pharmacy appears to be able to see them ) so i presume as usual no means yes big brother knows best On the other side its now easy to send your BP charts or glucose records into their system as a pdf they dont need a brain to drag it from my email ,i say easy but i defy you to find their email address on their website.sure beats printing it out and handing it to them personally. Biggest problem is my phone sits in a drawer so their sms messages go unheard ,had they used emails it would be easier they would pop up on my other devices . The doctor seemed not to have me on her pc she didnt realise when i had my scans ,i told her due to my problem i havnt been outside my garden since i last saw the doctor ,when was that she asked ,i heard her gasp when i said october last year ,why she asked .i asked if she had read the very thiing she was responding to lol. I presume theres just a list of names to contact and not much info other than the name and number not really the way to run efficiantly imho As the chap was emptying me of blood we chatted and he admitted something was going on ,not only was he working more his "house bound" clientele were very young and seemingly fit .He said it started with covid and increasingly his clientele were far more "dusky" than before most couldnt grasp English which seems to prove my opinion the non productive old are being replaced with even less productive young .

Unfortunately they changed the name but not the rest

You imagine a file - with a big red sticker on the front hat says that your loved one's affairs can be discussed with you. No more. Physical files are largely a thing of the past. Everything will be scanned in and stored as a PDF - often as an image, so users can't even search the documents using a machine. It's all a bit crap. As for the ongoing push to put all public services on-line, I despair! There seems no awareness that doing this disenfranchises whole swathes of society.

The challenge is the cheaper / beginner line, better option would be Concept or Solitude if you can But delivery is a problem with Evri being totally useless, which deters me from ordering again. I believe Bob and Co had in store stock to collect. There seems no other option than Evri for couriers.

I've just looked and may go for the Challenge XT barbel rod, only £16 and that includes what looks to be a freespool reel. It doesn't mention the test curve but i'd imagine it's a 1.75lb.

Will do - but I doubt they'll stay in stock that long. I'm thinking barbel and zander, so I won't be able to test them until the season opens.

Please let me know your thoughts on them when you get them Ken. May get myself a couple.

Yep certainly do but full of ladies in lingerie, but if you avoided that some great fishing gear. Had a load of stuff incl: Ivan Marks match rod, Mitchell fixed spools etc.

Got the Concept 10' light tip and the Superteam 11' light feeder. Wanted the Solitude light tip as well but arrives smashed via Evri and Sports Direct. Mate also had damage to his rod from Evri, no reinforced packaging just a black bag, numpties. But both rods are excellent.

Anyone remember the fishing tackle in the Freemans (and most back then) catalogue ,i bought a sealey blue max (i think that was the name) nice rod l,not the lightest but a well built thing ,i went on to get the blue max2 . It seemed everyone and his dog sold tackle i have a marks and sparks fishing book somewhere but far to expensive to even enter if they sold fishing tackle itself Some reels on aliexpress look good ,i may invest when my 1970`s stuff wears out

I just bit the bullet and ordered the two 1.75 rods, a feeder rod, a huge landing net (required on some local pools that stock cats) and a longer net handle for my usual specimen net. The whole lot, including postage was £73. Thanks for the heads-up.

I forget all grammer and .... writing stuff . I left in the third year lol The second week is up thursday whats to bet another email will be "triaged" it probably means trashed and forgotten . If they annoy me again i will insist on a home visit or more probably will not have the option of going in person the last thing i need is getting caught short in a taxi ,thats a big bill on top of the £30+ fares

We appear to be living in a "Computer Says No" culture these days, & not enough individuals are held accountable for their actions. (or inaction) Seems all about "Arse Covering" - "Where There's Blame, There's a Claim" rather than actually, trying to help!! I've still haven't got the correct use of the comma!! Lol.

My very good friend, Club Member and regular fishing mate, Trevor, who sadly passed away, Sunday 5th May aged 91. He suffered a stroke early January. We fished Kippax Park Lakes almost every Mid Week (weather permitting) for quite a few years. Coincidentally, he passed away the very same mid morning we were fishing a Club Match - at Kippax Park Lakes. Safe journey buddy, & fish well with Alan and our Geoff.

My delivery arrived today. Must say I'm impressed with the 10ft Concept light feeder rod, I'd of been happy paying £70 nevermind the £9 it cost me. Don't really need it, but at that price it would be rude not to. Also picked up the 10 metre pole which comes with a half metre extension, that was £23, silly price for a high modulus carbon pole. Haven't fished with a pole for about 30yrs, but it's nice to have it just incase. And picked up the feeder kit for my son which comes with the rod with 3 tips, reel and small tackle box with various bit's of terminal tackle. Looks decent, nice and slim with part cork handle and full carbon blank (tips are probably fibre glass, which is a good thing). Reel seems decent and nice and smooth too. Definitely can't grumble for £14.

Update the "forms " craziness is getting worse . I recently started an online "consultation" i included my ongoing bowel problem and added once more this strange agonising stabbing pains in my upper body and muscle pain (no joke if i do anything for 5 mins my muscles burn like its been doing hard labour all day ,a sit down and its gone in 10 mins and it starts again once i carry on) could be Diabetes related (both could) but writhing in agony for 5 minutes after a meal isnt really normal is it? .Rushing to the loo isnt really normal and sudden really low BP isnt normal either ,i probably didnt have blood pressure that low when i was a teenager never mind a 70 year old ex smoker whos only excecise is using a treadmill a few times a week. Filled in the forms ,most boxes were pointless "what help do you think a doctor could be" was the most pointless i am not needing a plumber but medical opinion. And other ones that should already exist in my notes so pointless refilling it everytime you try to get an appointment It came back several hours later ,you have been Triaged please get back to us if you dont hear from the surgery in a week. A week came and went so i emailed the surgery (nope i am not going to pay to sit and listen to 5 minutes of crap telling me not attend if i have covid and other pointless advice then ghastly lift muzak until some receptionist finishes its makeup and answers) and waited .usually a phonecal comes within a hour to sort out an apointment . Hooray the system gets back to me "you have been Triaged please get back to us if you dont hear from the surgery in a week" Now this is deliberate its not AI on an app its an email response from the staff at the surgery to me .Somethings gone desperately wrong in the west (not just here but Europe and the USA) ,could it be our new arrivals getting priority or something more ? I didnt read about all the doctors dying and the NHS isnt short of money they still buy art and instal tech thats never switched on so its not that .Perhaps its thinning out the spare non productive population like the deliberate execution of the old in nursing homes by mixing two drugs to "help" those poor folks drowning in their own saliva having covid thats been known to be deadly for years . Whilst newly arrived chaps from africa should get paracetamol for their headaches from their 24/7 on demand doctors us brits should be head of the queue,how times have change since we just turned up and took a ticket and was seen an hour or two later to now a decade later when you go on a list to join a list to perhaps join another one.

Had a small match yesterday. The carp were spawning! 58lb of 90% silvers won it. Back to the old days!

Some good deals on there. If the 1.75lb rods were shorter than 12 foot, I'd have had a pair.

Various leg problems, post my left knee replacement and a snapped achillis tendon, wiped out another flyfishing season for me last year, but more physio and exercise, gave me a wobbly chance to fish the River Whitewater this week. The river has been in near permanent flood since March, with few members able to wet a line, but following days of high temperatures, I was optimistic when I arrived at the upper section of the Farnborough and District AS three mile stretch for a one hour evening session. The river was still pushing through at pace, with a slight tinge of colour and although there were plenty of olives in the air, while a few Mayfly were lifting off, I opted for a Gold Ribbed Hairs Ear nymph on a size 16 to start, searching out a few of the deeper, slower runs as I moved upstream. I spotted a rise ahead of me and ran the nymph through, but the river was quicker than I could retreive, a rapid pluck at the nymph my only offer. I tied on a heavier Goldhead GRHE on a size 14 and tried again, working along the slower water of the opposite bank, a solid pull resulting in a wild brownie launching vertically out of the river and running downstream before repeating the aerobatics. Not a big fish, but my first for a while. Regular raking of the gravel has resulted in more wild browns in recent years, a good sign of a healthy river. A kick test in March revealed stone loach, bull heads and trout fry along with plenty of nymphs. Continuing upstream, another take saw a small chub swung to hand. I hope that as the river settles down, my posts will continue. https://www.urbanfieldsportsman.com/index.php/river-whitewater-comes-to-life-after-months-of-floods/

Studio seem to be selling off their fishing gear really cheap if anyone is interested. P&P is quite costly but not so bad if you wanted a couple of cheap rods etc. The Shakespeare CONCEPT float and feeder rods look a good bet for £8 and £9 respectively. Tempted myself by the Solitude rods, they look fab value. https://www.studio.co.uk/shop/sports-leisure/hobbies-interests/fishing-accessories#dcp=1&dppp=59&OrderBy=price_asc

My magpies are unhappy theres fewer blackbirds this year but theres hope yet in a late brood ,the male blackbirds are more occupied attacking each other than looking for sweet sweet cloaca by the looks of it . Birds are down but mice up killed 5 in 2 days in the sheds ,bloody chewy devils you cant eat plastic seats for f sake Lots of deer about. 5 in the field 10 feet from fence and one male last night stamped his foot at me as i closed the gate stoping the ****ers eating whats left of the roses they scoffed the night before! They eat quince flowers aswell i spotted 3 coming in the garden going straight to the hedge to scoff them

My blackbirds seem to be pretty happy now that there aren't so many magpies around.

The straw kept blocking up when sucking on it !!!!!

It must have been a big pond to take 3 years to remove it lol